Yarn twisting and stabilizing machine



June 3, 1941;

w. vw. ARNOLD, JR

YARN TWISI'ING AND STABILIZING MACHINE Filed Nov. 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN B70;

June 3, 1941. w. w. ARNOLD, JR 2,244,415"

' YARN TWISTINGIANID STABILIZING MACHINE Filed Nov; 14, 1938 l s Sheets-SheecZ :IIIIIIIIII INVENTOR ZZZ June 1941- w. w. ARNOLD, JR 2,244,415

YARN TWISTING AND STABILIZING MACHINE Filed NOV. 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Patentecl June 3, 1941' YARN TWISTIN G AND STABILIZING MACHINE William Arnold, Jr., Knoxville, Tenn, assignor to Callaway Mills, La Grange, 6a., a corporation of Georgia Application November 14, 1938, Serial No. 240,224

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for forming and conditioning cord and has for its object to provide means for simultaneously and similarly forming and treating a number of cords under substantially similar conditions to make each cord more nearly uniform.

Another object is to reduce the time, labor, cost and floor space for the apparatus accomplishing these results. 7

.A further object is to twist, stretch and wind a cord under continuous tension and as a single continuous operation instead of in two or three operations heretofore employed. 7

In twisting, stretching or winding under tension induced in a cord by a friction or sliding brake, it has not been possible to make the brake act uniformly at all times with the result the the cord. In this tank the cord passes around the pulley I 8 and then around the pulley I9 at the other end of the tank and up through a hole It in the cap 20, thence over a guide pulley 2| to the drum I 5. 'A weighted grooved guide 22 not rotatable tends to stretch the cord in event it may possess more than the usual amount of stretch, and enables slightly different tension on the severalcords where desirable to equalize the stretch in the cords before they leave the drums H and ii for the final stretching process.

A weight 23 is mounted on the lever 25 which is pivoted at 24 to the frame, the guide 22 being a mounted on the lever 25. The cord then passes product is not uniform. Another cause of nonuniformity in the product has been the time during which the cords may be allowed to remain under different conditions of tension, moisture or temperature when wound up after twisting and after stretching and setting the stretch.

Under this invention a number of cords are made and treated under conditions so similar that each is more nearly uniform than heretofore.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is an end view showing one embodiment of this invention and is a section on the line l-l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section showing one of the units when viewed from the right side of Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows the top of one of the caps provided for the hot water pipe tank through which the cord is passed.

Fig. 5 is a'detail showing the upper end of the guides for the traverse guide and wind-up tube.

As shown in Fig. 1 a rapidly rotating creel Ill holds a desired number of twister spools II from which the strands are passed over guide pulleys l2 and thence out through the separator II to drums. and II which assist in pulling the cord. The strands become twisted between the separator l3 and the drum or pulley It, the. degree of twist depending on the speed of rotation of the creel and the linear speed of the pulleys H and I! or the cord. After passing over the grooved pulley or drum H the twisted cord is passed around the grooved drum H the desired number of times and then passes from the drum It almost vertically downward through one of the smallholes It in the cap over the hot water pipe tank H for the purpose of wetting the drums 22 and 2! in any convenient and" around the pulley l5 several times, thence around the pulley H as many times as is needed. The pulleys or drums I4 and I5 have the same peripheral or linear speeds and it is necessary to wind the cord a number of times around each of these drums preparatory to heavily stretchin it.

From the pulleys l4 and it the cord passes under heavy tension to the drum 2% around which the cord is wound a number of times in order to hold it tightly by friction. From the drum 26 the cord is passed around the pulley 21 and thence around the drum 28, back again around the pulley 21 and over the drum 28. The

drums 26 and 28 revolve at the same peripheral speed but their peripheral speed is greater than that of the drums l4 and It with the result that the wet cord is stretched beyond its elastic limit to the desired amount to give the cord 9. permanent set in elongation. This permanent set causes the cord to lose some of its elasticity in tension and it does not possess anywhere near the same residual ability to stretch as it did previously to the stretching. The stretch therefore occurs between the pair of drums II and II and the pair of drums and 28. Two drums instead of one are used at each end of the stretching operation in order to assist in frictionally holding the cord and also in kneading the cord to aid in setting the fibres of their strands to other'new positions, or in other words in setting the stretch. The cord may be wrapped around desired manner since both of these drums have the same peripheral speed.

After passing the drum 2! the cord travels up and over a guide pulley 29, thence down to the traverse guide 30 which directs the cord movement onto the winding or packaging tube 3| on which the cord is wound under tension. The

tube 3! rests on and is driven from the periphtube.

cries of the drums 2i and 28. Since this tube contacts with the peripheries of these drums there is only an almost negligible slippage since the peripheral speed of these drum-s is slightly larger than the speed of the cord, the cord being set in grooves in these drums. The weight of the traverse guide I! rests upon the wind-up When the tube 3| is of the desired size the machine may be stopped. the traverse guide 30 raised and set in thenotch 30b (Fig. 5). One side We of the guides Illa in which the tube and traverse guide rotate. is made shiftable by means of the pins 30c and slots 30d. enabling this side 30c to be raised so that the wind-up tube may be removed and a new one inserted. The wind-up tube has substantially the same peripheral speed regardless of whether there be much or little cord wound on it.

All pulleys and drums are adjustable on their shafts so that they may be alined as desired.

Gearing As shown in Fig. 2 a motor or other prime mover may drive the pulley 32, preferably through the aid of a number of flexible belts. This pulley 32 is mounted to drive the shaft 33 carrying the gear 34 which as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 meshes with the gear 35. A gear 38 keyed to the gear 35 drives the gears 31 and 3!, the gear 31 being mounted on an adjustable lever so that the gear 36 may be of different sizes, that is, one gear may be taken off and another gear of different size replaced. This change gear 36 controls the amount of twist to be given to the cord as will be described later. From the gear 39 motion is transmitted through the gears 40, 4| to the shaft 42 and thence through the gears 44 and 45 to the shaft 46 (see Fig. 2). The drum I4 is keyed on the shaft 42 and the drum IS on the shaft 46.,

Also meshing with the gear 39 is a gear 41 shown at the top center of Fig. 3 and. keyed on the same shaft with the gear 41 is another or'changeable gear 48, the size 01' which is adapted to control the amount of stretch given the cord since this gear 4!! drives the drums 26 and 28 on each side of the machine. From the gear 48 motion is transmitted to the gear 49, thence to the gear 50 keyed thereto, gear 5|, shaft 52 carrying the drum 28 shown on the right side of Fig. 1. From the shaft 52 motion is transmitted through the gears 53 and 54 to the gear 55 on the shaft carrying the drum 26. At the upper left portion of Fig. 3 will be found the gear 56 driven from gear 48. This gear 56 drives gear 58 to which is'keyed the gear 59 which drives the gear 60 on whose shaft is mounted the drum 28 shown at the left side of Fig. 1. The gear 8| keyed to gear 60 drives the gear 62 and the gear 63. The drum 26 shown at the left side of Fig. 1 is mounted on the shaft of gear 63, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The change gear 4| meshes with the gears described and the arcuate slots 51 are provided to enable the cooperating gears to properly mesh when a different size change gear 48 is used. i

It should be understood that the two units illustrated in Fig. 1 are each driven through the gearing illustrated in Fig. 3. The drum l4 at the right side of Fig. 1 is driven by the shaft containing the gears 4| and 44 whereas the corresponding drum l4 on the left side of Fig. 1 is meshes with gear 39. The drums 26 and 28 at the right side of Fig. 1 are on the shafts containing the gears 55 and 53 in Fig. 3, whereas the gears 26 and 28 on the left side of Fig. 1 are on the shafts containing the gears "-41.

The sizes and speeds of the various gears Just described are shown in the following table for the particular embodiment of this invention which has been illustrated:

Reference numeral of gear The surface speed of the drum I4 is about 728.48" per minute. With a creel speed of 1500 R. P. M. then the twist per inch is approximately 2.059. This multiplied by the number of teeth on the change gear 36 gives atwist constant of approximately 59.45. With the size of change gear 48 illustrated, the stretch in the cord detween the drums l4 and I 5 on the one hand and the drums 2E and 28 on the other hand will be 9.16%. For each tooth more or less the percentage will increase or decrease 1.17%.

Wetting and heatin The cord in passing through the pipe tank I1 comes in contact with hot water caused to circulate through the pipe tank. This hot water comes from the tank 64 shown in Fig. 2 as being located at one end of the machine. An outlet pipe 65 from this tank leads to the circulating pump 66 which supplies hot water through the pipe 61 to the pipe or header 58 extending along the machine.

At each unit or pair of creels and drums is provided a pipe tank I1. Overflow from the header 68 occurs at 69 into the tank 64. In order to induce circulation of hot water in each of the pipe tanks I! which extend at right angles to the header in, a small pipe 10 arranged as shown in Fig. 1 leads to adjacent the end portions of the pipe tank i1, this smaller pipe 70 being connected through the pipe H with the tank 64 as shown in Fig. 2. Water is drawn oil continually through the pipes 10 and II but the capacity of the pump 66 exceeds the total capacity of the pipes 10 and H so that'water is returned to the tank 54 through the headers 68. and its overflow, and also through the pipe H. A thermostat 12 controls a valve 13 in the steam line 14, automatically in response to the tern perature of the water at the' thermostat 12. which is so designed as to maintain the water at substantially 200 F. The water at remote portions from the heater tank should not fall below about 180. The pipe 15 and the spigot 16 provide water, preferably hot, for the tank 54.

creels links- 82. In event the weight of thespools on 'one side should exceed those on the other side.

weights 83 are so arranged as to be automatically shifted far enough to reduce vibration in the rapidly rotating creel and thereby reduce vibration. Each of these weights is suspended by a lever 84 pivoted at 85 and pivotally connected at its upper endportion B6 to the links 81 and 88, which in turn are pivotally connected at the ends of the links '82 to the lower ends of the suspensions 8|.

' In event the right side of the left creel indicated in Fig. 1 might be heavier and during rotation, cause the strand spoolsto shift to the dotted line positions indicated at 89 for the suspensions and spools, then the left weight 88 is I swung radially outward while the right weight 83 is swung radially inward to automatically compensate for the shifting weight in the strand spools. This has the effect of maintaining the center of gravity substantially alined with the axis of the creel so that vibration is reduced and the strands may be twisted under substantially uniform tension. The strand spool suspensions are pivoted adjacent the upper portionpf the creel at 98. Where the number of strands is odd, the odd spool 9! may be mounted in the upper central portion of the creel independently of the pivotal mounting or suspensions for the other spools.

These spools are enclosed to prev nt air currents ailecting the spools or strands during their rapid rotation. The casing is made in two tele-. scopic sections, the bottom section 92 and the top section 93 being capable of being lowered within the bottom section when it is necessary to replace the strand carrying spools. At the top of the creel is located a latch 94 for holding the top section 93 in place. By releasing these latches 9d the section 93 may be dropped to provide access to the strand spools. A coupling 95 on the shaft 33 enables the machine to be adapted for stretching even though the creels may not be operated- Miscellaneous The machine may be built as long as is conveniently desired to contain as many units as desired. In Fig. l is illustrated one unit comprised of two creels and two sets of wetting and. stretching pulleys so that one unit handles two cords. As shown in Fig. 2 there may be as many units arranged along the machine as is desired. One embodiment of this invention has been comprised of seven units spaced twenty inches on centers.

Therevolving creels. sheave pulleys 18,19, and the main drive shaft 33 are all equipped with ball bearings as illustrated. With a creel speed of 1500 R. P. M. the automatic self balancing feature previously described is desirable to equalize the tension in each of thecord strands.

Among the advantages of this invention may be mentioned the single operation described for twisting and stretching which has taken the place of two or three separate operations heretofore customary, the cord being maintained continually under tension from its twisting until after it has been wound up. The tension used is not dependenton brakes or other needless power consuming devices. The amount of twist is adjusted by means of the change gear 86 and the amount of stretch by the change gear 48. The wind-up spool is maintained under uniform tension and driven at a constant linear speed regardless of the amount of cord it, contains. Economy in floor space and elimination of waste in material and time are also features. The pipe tank IT at each end has a sliding cover 20 and when these covers are closed the four holes shown in Fig. 4 are provided. two 01 these holes being used for the active cords being conditioned and the other two holes being maintained in reserve. There may be suitable lengths of cord provided in these reserve holes and portions of the pipe tank ready to be connected and used in event one of the active cords might break while being wetted although this is not probable. The revolving creelsmakes it possible to twist the cord and'maintain it continually under tension without interruption.

Maintaining the wind-up tubes 3| under tension gives time for both the stretch and twist imparted to the cords to be set before the tension is released. These wind-up tubes, while the cord thereon is under tension, might be carried to a steam chamber or given other customary treatment to assist in permanently setting the stretch and twist, but principally the stretch. The winding mechanism for these tubes 3i is adapted to handle almost any type 01' package desired.

While this device has been designed primarily for the treatment of cotton cords, it is adapted also for the treatment of cords of wool and other fibres. v

The machine is illustrated for operating with wet treatment. If the product being twisted, stretched and Wound does not require wetting, the cord may be threaded around the drums i4 and I5 and then passed to the drums 28 and 28 without passing through the pipe tank I 1.

The weight of the traverse guide 30 should assist in determining the tension on the cable strand or cord as it is wound in the finished package. Thistension plus the number of crossings per inch in winding determines the density 01' the package; V I

The grooved guide 22 being fastened at the end of lever 25 will stretch the contacting cord if the tension thereof. does not support the lever in a substantially horizontal position. As the grooved guide 22 swings downward the increased angle and friction on the cable will tend to equal- I ize the stretch in the cable between drum I 5 and the point of contact with the guide 22.

Roughly the degree of tension applied at this point should be about 15% of the tension required between the stretching drums i5 and 28. The degree of tension in the winding-up operation should be enough to make a firm compact package and this tension should be governed to a substantial extent by the weight of the traverse guide 38.

The water level in the tank 64 may be controlled manually or regulated by a float valve 84a controlling preferably the water supply. A float valve may also control the overflow pipe 65a. The pipe 852) is a drain pipe from the tank.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for forming and conditioning cord which includes means for rotating strands to form a cord, means for pulling the rotating strands and cord formed thereby, and means for stretching the twisted cord while continuing and increasing the tension on the strands, said first mentioned means including strand spools, angularly spaced around their axis of rotation, a weight. and means for radially adjusting said weight to compensate for any unbalance in the weights of the rotating strand spools and their contents.

2. The combination with means for rotating strands to form a twisted cord, of means for stretching the cord while continuing tension from the twisting through the stretching means, and means for reducing vibration in said first means which comprises a radially adjustable weight and mechanism for automatically shifting said weight in response to any excess weight of strand on a side of said rotating means.

3. A creel comprising at least two angularly spaced spools, means for rotating said spools, means including a radially adjustable mechanism responsive to any. unbalance in weight of said spools or their contents, and a housing enclosing said spools and the last mentioned means.

4, The combination with a pair of spaced rotatable creels, a liquid receptacle extending .between said creels, winding drums over which the cord is formed from the strands issuing from each reel may pass before and after passing through said liquid in an opposite direction to the cord formed from the other creel, a pair of drums for each creel and between which the cord may be stretched, and a wind-up reel for each cord. V

5. In an apparatus for forming and conditioning cord, a longitudinal liquidpipe, a plurality of lateral pipes connected with the longitudinal pipe, means including pulleys for passing cords through said lateral pipes, another longitudinal pipe connected to said lateral pipes, means for circulating liquid through said longitudinal pipes, and means for causing liquid to flow in each of said lateral pipes after being supplied from one of the longitudinal pipes and removed by another of the longitudinal pipes.

6. The combination with spaced rows of rotating strand holding creels, substantially alined drums, adjacent each row of creels, spaced pairs of stretching drums, each drum of each pair being alined with a corresponding drum of another pair, substantially alined winding drums forming two rows, and means for driving each corresponding part at the same speed.

'7. An apparatus for simultaneously and similarly stretching at least two cords comprising sets of drums for stretching the cords. a liquid passage between said sets of drums and through which at least two cords may pass in opposite directions, and means for supplying and withdrawing heated liquid to and from said passage in such manner that the temperature difference between each end or the passage and itscenter is substantially the same.

8. An apparatus for simultaneously and similarly stretching at least two cords comprising sets of drums for stretching the cords, a liquid passage between said sets of drums and through which at least two cords may pass in opposite directions, liquid supply and outlet pipes for said passage, one connected to the central portion of the passage and the other connected to the opposite ends or said passage.

9.-An apparatus for twisting and stretching cord comprising spaced creels, a shaft for driving both creels at the same speed, drums above and adjacent each creel for stretchinga cord, a frame in which said drums are journalled, gears for simultaneously driving the drums adjacent each creel at correspondingspeeds, means including interchangeable gears for controlling thedegrce of twist simultaneously applied to each cord. and

means including other interchangeable gears for controlling the degree of stretch simultaneously applied to each cord.

10. An apparatus for twisting and stretching cord comprising spaced creels, a shaft for driving both creels at the same speed, drums above and adjacent each creel for stretching a cord, a frame in which said drums are journalled, gears for simultaneously driving the drums adjacent each creel at corresponding speeds, means including interchangeable gears for controlling the degree of twist simultaneously applied to each cord, and means including other interchangeable gears for controlling the degree of stretch simultaneously applied to each cord, said gears being located adjacent the same end portion or the drums.

' 11. An apparatus for twisting and stretching at least two cords the same amount at the same time comprising means. for twisting each cord and subsequently stretchingit while continuously under tension, a liquid holder through which each of the two cords may pass before completion or said stretching, said liquid holder extending 

